It found that from 2003 to 2013, friends, relatives, and political supporters of officeholders were hired as "staff assistants," a job that the agency declared it could fill without interviews or publicly posting it.

The report found the number of IDOT "staff assistants" tripled from 2004 to 2014, and says instead of performing policy duties, they worked as tree planters, car washers, and secretaries, in some cases making more money than their supervisors.

In many cases, the Inspector General says, those employees were then transferred, without an interview, into jobs covered by hiring rules. The jobs higher paying, and tough to lose.

Former Democratic Congressman Phil Hare is mentioned in the report several times. The report states at least three people were hired onto IDOT as "staff assistants" with strong Hare connections; two were hired within weeks after Hare lost his re-election bid in 2010.